Closure of Safety Net Hospitals on Public Essay

Closure of Safety Net Hospitals on Public Health:

Throughout the history of health care in the United States, there has been a huge increase in the number of hospitals. For instance, the country experienced an increase in the number of hospitals from 178 in 1873 to 7,200 by 1970. Modern hospitals are characterized with relatively complex organizational structures since they are multi-faceted businesses with different chains of command including various departments, lines of authority and responsibility, and committees.

Despite of the increase in the number of hospitals, America has also experienced hospital closures since 1980 of approximately 1,500 hospitals and a 33% decrease in-patient days. The closures have included registered, state and local government, non-governmental, and investor-owned hospitals that will result in the eventual reduction of the number of these facilities to 4,500.

Safety net hospitals serve as the bedrock of America's national health insurance system whose main mission is to save people's lives and safeguard the fabric of communities. The closures of many American safety net hospitals is attributed to simple economics since they rely on public funds resulting in numerous challenges as all governmental levels are looking to cut budgets.This results in huge financial crises for the hospitals such as Grady Memorial Hospital that had a debt of $71 million owed to Emory University and Morehouse School of Medicine (Dewan & Sack, 2008). The main impact of the closures of safety net hospitals on public health is that it contributes to reduced access to patients' health care services. Patients are no longer able to access care services or are forced to travel long distances to access the services due to the closure of safety net hospitals. In such instances, there is a likelihood of the increase in the number of deaths related to illnesses, inaccessibility and long travels for care services present numerous health challenges to patients.

Impact of Economic Recession on Safety Net Providers:

Economic recession contributed to the increase in the demands on health care safety net as many Americans lost health insurance and jobs. This has had mixed and less severe effects on safety net providers initially and more than….....